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Google’s Bugle Garners Whooping Anti-SOPA/PIPA Support

Anti-SOPA Protest.jpgJanuary 18, 2012 happened to be the worst day for SOPA/PIPA support, with millions petitioning against the proposed Bills online. User generated comments and opinions against the Bills also ran into millions, which consequently has moved some of the Congressmen, who were ‘For’ the Bill switch stance to ‘Against.’ 

Eighteen members of the Upper Chamber, some of whom were co-sponsors of the Protect IP Act, came out in the open with their opposition on Wednesday, dealing a severe blow to SOPA/PIPA support. The majority of the newly-opposing Senators are from the Republican side, as those ‘For’ and ‘Against’ don’t yet seem to come close to prove an absolute majority. The whip count by OpenCongress found 35 SOPA supporters (including 34 co-sponsors), 18 opponents, 12 Senators leaning toward opposition while 35 Senators have not committed to a position.

In effect of the online uproar against the proposed Bills in Congress, the hearing scheduled for the 18th January, was canceled and the White House has also pushed down some controversial portions of both SOPA and PIPA.

Earlier, Twitter tweeted, “2.4+ million SOPA-related Tweets from 12am-4pm ET today. Top 5 terms: SOPA, Stop SOPA, PIPA, Tell Congress.” Twitter, instead of blacking out the site against SOPA, has been involved in a Facebook-like protest, with its top executives posting anti-SOPA messages on their personal accounts. CEO Dick Costolo wrote: “Please join me in urging Senators @SenatorReid & @ChuckSchumer not to rush #PIPA vote.”

When Google sounded its bugle in protest of the SOPA urging users to sign a petition protesting two anti-piracy laws circulating in Congress, the world became all ears, and millions responded. Google’s petition page read, “There’s no need to make American social networks, blogs and search engines censor the Internet or undermine the existing laws that have enabled the Web to thrive, creating millions of U.S. jobs,” and that "Too much is at stake - please vote NO on PIPA and SOPA.”

Google, which is known for its variety of doodles, blacked it out and provided a link below that lead to the petition page, which produced a mind-blowing 4.5 million signatures on their anti-SOPA petition page. Similar petitions were signed by over 1.5 million through the activist website Avaaz.org, while over 350,000 people have sent emails to representatives in the House and Senate against the Bills through Sopastrike.com and AmericanCensorship.org. The mass opposition that these 2 Bills have generated has been massive, primarily on account of the fact that SOPA and PIPA are directly aimed at restricting internet freedom.

The petition was also shared quite extensively -  344,000 times on Facebook; Google+ shows over 125,000 and a few of those 2.4 million #SOPA, #stopSOPA, tweets pointed to Google’s petition as well. Facebook, which hasn’t been prominent in the opposition had its CEO Mark Zuckerberg share his opinion against the legislation in a post on his Facebook account.

Zuckerberg wrote, “The internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet’s development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet.

The world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet. We have been working with many of these folks for months on better alternatives to these current proposals. I encourage you to learn more about these issues and tell your congressmen that you want them to be pro-internet.”

It could be the end of road for the two proposed Bills in their existing form as it is due for a thorough Congress Committee review for anything that goes against the American First Amendment guaranteeing Free Speech and other Civil Liberties. Freedom and free speech are still free in America and Senator Lamar Smith, will be remembered for reminding the American public, how dear it is to them.

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Google

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Anti-SOPA Protest, Anti-PIPA, Senators, Google Protest, Facebook Protest, Congress Committee

About Lazarus Rankish Hunt

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